Defections, Political Will and Corruption Growth in the Public Sector: Accounting Practitioners’ View.

Résumé

This paper fundamentally investigated the extent to which avoidance of prosecution is a key factor behind the defection of the political class to the ruling party resulting in high corruption growth in Nigeria and the extent to which accountants and the accounting profession, auditors and the audit profession effectiveness in the war against corruption growth in the public sector is a function of political will by the political leaders against corruption. The research was conducted in four states in Nigeria. Survey design was embraced in the study. Primary data were collected through Five Likert Scale (FLS) (Strongly Agree, Agree, Undecided, Disagree, Strongly Disagree) copies of a structured questionnaire. A total of two hundred and sixty-four (264) accounting practitioners with two years and above years of working experience were sampled from a population of 2921. Systematic Sampling Technique (SST) was used in the study. Descriptive statistical techniques such as frequency distribution, charts, mean, tables, and percentages response analysis were utilized in analyzing the data. Cronbach Alpha Coefficient (CAC) was embraced to test the reliability of the research instrument. The hypotheses were tested with the p-value percentage and the mean. The result of the analysis revealed that avoidance of prosecution is a key factor behind the defection of the political class to the ruling party resulting in high corruption growth in Nigeria. Also, results showed that accounting practitioners’ effectiveness in the war against corruption growth in the public sector in Nigeria is a function of the political will of the political leaders to fight corruption. The study recommends among others that politicians should only be allowed to decamp if they have spent not less than ten (10) years and above in their current party. In addition, political parties accepting any politician with a corruption profile should be delisted by the Independent National Electoral Commission in Nigeria.